Hundreds turn up to celebrate St Nicholas Day at community centre
Hundreds of people flocked to a packed community centre to celebrate the tradition of Father Christmas.
The winter event St Nicholas Day, which falls on December 5 or 6 in the West and December 19 in Eastern Europe was marked at Walsall's Nash Dom Community Hub on December 9.
Delighted families were treated to a variety of activities including a children's disco, games, dance performances, a Christmas crafts workshop, face painting and a virtual reality trail at the centre in Sun Street, in Palfrey.
This year's event was also used to promote the 16 Days of Action Against Domestic Abuse campaign as part of efforts to raise awareness of the issue in the community.
St Nicholas was a bishop who lived in Turkey in the fourth century. He is reputed to have helped a poor family by secretly dropping a bag of gold down the chimney for them to find. It landed in a stocking hung to dry by the fire.
By the 1880s Santa Claus and Father Christmas had all but merged into the same festive figure here.
St Nicholas Day then became a winter tradition in bringing together families and children from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
The popular event attended mainly by families with Eastern Europe backgrounds was held in partnership with bodies including Walsall Council and Walsall for All.
